This month we’ll put the P270-EX project to rest. Yes, I hear y'all goin' “IT’s ABOUT TIME!”
If you need help sleeping part one of the P270–EX saga in detail can be found here .
If you need help sleeping part one of the P270–EX saga in detail can be found here .
The complete part two can be found here .
Tweetcap : Starting with an LP style 3 x P90 axe I replaced the toggle with push-pull switches on each volume control for pup selection, which turned out to be a dumb idea. I put a GFS Mini Crunchy Humbucker (hereafter "MC") in the neck position, left the original P90 in the middle, and put a GFS Soapbar 180 in the bridge slot.
When we left last P270-EX it had 3 useable pickups that just didn't go well together. The MC was by far my favorite of the 3.
Anthony recalled that I raved about the way this sounded OOTB. I even stated plainly that the guitar would have been better had I left it stock, so he guessed that I’d put it all back the way I found it. A reasonable prediction, but not my plan.
Although the guitar did come with some great voices, to go back there would have brought me back to my original shortcomings and that would feel too much like giving up. My main beef with the stock switching was that it didn’t allow selection of only one pickup. Although the pushmepullyous were too akward to use on stage, I have other guitars to use on stage (if I ever go back on stage) Considering this is functionally a home-bound guitar I decided that the OEM switching was the greater of the 2 evils. I kept the pushmepullyous. Although I missed the mark with this project it served to remind me that I think Father Leo showed us the light on pickup switching:
However many pickups > Switch > master volume control.
At this point the only problem remaining was the pickup mismatch. I considered putting the P-90s back again but chose instead to move forward.
I installed a GFS Hot Mini Crunchy Overwound in the bridge slot. The guitar is currently outfitted with :
N: Mini Crunchy
M: OEM P-90
N: Hot Mini Crunchy Overwound.
Now I’m getting somewhere.
The Overwound version has a more pronounced hump in the midrange and the 2 MCs prove to be a nice pairing.
The Overwound is distinct yet not so far afield that the 2 units can’t coexist. Each of the MC pups alone has a sound that is tighter than a typical large ‘bucker but thicker than a traditional single coil and they play well together. Both pups react nicely to variations in picking dynamics and all three of the traditional Les Paul voices on this guitar work well.
While the neck MC ranges from nearly Firebird sounds to tight-warm almost jazzbox tones, the Overwound is one step less mellow and more inyoface. It has a sweet easily-invoked harmonic sorta quack-squeal. If my Keeley mod TS9 is a woman, the OverwoundMC is the guy who knows where all her sensitive spots are. I’d guess that if you favor a sparkly higher-gain OD you could pinch-harmonic-isize yourself all day.
I'm finally in a happy place with this guitar - a sweet tight mini-bucker Paul with something extra.
It ain't perfect but it is fun and useable. The working voices are sweet and distinct in my stable. The minor remaining downfall is that the P90 doesn't really mix well with the buckers. Thus this guitar has 4 good voices: the 3 basic Paul-type voices and also the middle pup by itself.
The 3 remaining voices are unholy unions producing unwanted children - really damned dull children.
I declare the P270-EX project a limited success. If I had to work with this guitar I could, despite the switching. The performance and feel are certainly good enough.
BUT just because I'm calling the P270-EX project fulfilled doesn't mean there won't be ...
(wait for it... this is called "drama")
Round five.
There will definitely be a Round 5. It isn't high priority and it probably wont get a complete edition by itself, only a quick mention. I plan to go ahead and do what I wanted for Round 4 before I cheaped out. It is probably obvious, isn't it?
I'll leave you with a quick-n-dirty 'shopped preview of "Black Tiger, Beyond 270"
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Next month I'll put away all the hardware and bring you a quick fun look at "Man's Best Friend(s)" - yes, two of them .
© 2013 Raymond Blowers
